Closed Piggyback

[Lexy Fletcher]

There it was in the newspaper. The owl had delivered it and front page was all the rage. The case - The scitorari. The minute that the names in the paper jumped out at Lexy she felt her breath leave her lungs. If she could have died in that moment it would have happened from shock. Two of the names of those convicted were familiar to the brunette mother, and she had never felt a shock so deep at knowing them. Were the men friends? Arlo maybe, but not Yev. But she knew them - and not in a way that left her innocence unquestionable. Of course she hadn't been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she hadn't made any sort of sell in a while to them - what was worse was that Gabriel knew nothing of her dealings. A squawk from their son alerted Lexy to the most shocking of all. She was a mother at this moment, to a one year old. She'd continued dangerous business with a child in her presence. Of course she'd never taken the tiny demon with her, but... if she had been jailed she'd have been like her father.

A manicured hand fled to Lexy's mouth, and she gently held her stomach. It felt to the girl as if she was going to be ill. Tears welled up in Lexy's large eyes and she slid against the wall into a heap on the floor. Was she going to get in trouble? No, they used their own wands, that's how they got caught. It said so right? Didn't it? She scanned the article but the only words that came out were the men's names and Azkaban. "Merlin." She whispered realizing just what this was. Her career couldn't have meant this much could it? And what was worse, was she was out of a good paying gig - something that had paid for the hospital, and the baby's needs. What was she going to do without that income? She knew the moment Gabriel saw her a mess on the floor he'd ask, and she'd not lie. Not now - even though she knew he'd yell and scream. He deserved to know. After all, they loved each other on a superficial level right? He barely knew her.... Lexy loved Gabriel nonetheless.

 

[Gabriel Fletcher]

Nobody had told Gabriel how exhausting raising a kid was. Having the little demon around almost made him sympathise with his mother. Almost. The different was that he actually loved his kid, would have given up everything he had for him, whereas she had dumped him on his dad's doorstep like a bag of rubbish.

It was his day off, and he was in the kitchen preparing what was supposed to be his and Lexy's dinner, but looked more like something he'd have given to the dog, if they'd had one. After a while he gave up and shoved the whole thing in the oven. Then he wandered out to find his girlfriend.

He stopped in the hall, still drying his hands on a tea towel. "Lex?" he said uncertainly. What was she doing? Why was she on the floor? She had the newspaper in her hand. Something had happened. "Um, are you OK?"

 

[Lexy Fletcher]

There it was, the echo in her head of Gabriel's voice sounded so far away, like the world around them was so distant. The paper was crumpled in her hands, held so tightly it was becoming a mess. Finally she looked at her lover, and her eyes welled with tears that she'd never let slip in front of him - not even during labor. Lexy was strong, she was determined and stone-hearted. The brunette looked back down at the paper, and then up at Gabriel. "I... have to talk to you." She spoke, her voice quiet, unlike her. She was normally so assured in the way she spoke, but this time she was not - almost as a child she spoke.

"Gabe, remember the job. The job I've been going to. The things I've been doing to pay off the bills. And how we haven't had to worry about money right? You know that right?" Slowly the woman stood and looked up at Gabe, almost pleading with him to see the positive, and not the fact that he'd been lied to. "I uhm... the people I've been selling wands to... They're in Azkaban." The world spun as she spoke adn the tears in her ocean eyes spilled over her rounded cheeks. "They can't trace the wands back, I'm sure of it, I won't go to jail... I wont. I don't even know if they used my wands for sure, there's no way of knowing, no way." She said sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than Gabriel. Finally looking up from the paper, Lexy looked into his eyes, hoping he wouldn't just leave her then and there. Walk away like her father - though things were different than her father. After all, her father couldn't ever come back from where he was.

 

[Gabriel Fletcher]

Gabe narrowed his eyes. Lexy never cried. What was this about? She had clearly been keeping something very important from him. "Right," he agreed, a little curtly. They certainly weren't strapped for cash, thanks to Lexy's job - something he didn't exactly enjoy being reminded of. He worked his fingers to the bone day in day out to support her, but it was the extra money coming in that allowed them to buy things they actually wanted, rather than just the things they needed. "What?" he said. Azkaban? Burner wands? She was selling wands to criminals? Why hadn't she told him about any of this? He was her boyfriend, the father of her child. She was supposed to trust him. He ran a hand through his hair, visions of Seraphiel being taken away flashing through his mind. "S**t, Lexy. OK. Right. It's OK." He stepped forward at last and wrapped his arms around her. "Whatever happens, I'll support you. You and our kid. Jesus. Why didn't you tell me?"

 

[Lexy Fletcher]

Lexy was prepared for the smack down - metaphorically - of the century. For Gabriel to yell and sweat and tell her how stupid and irresponsible she was. She’d gotten the job long before she was pregnant with their son, and thus had expected to need to quit, and with a baby on the way trafficking the wands wasn’t exactly something she could stop - she needed the income. It helped out Zero and Zero’s sister Yiwen as well. The girl watched for him to start in, but he didn’t. Everything she had expected was thrown out the window when Gabriel engulfed her in his strong arms. Suddenly a calm came over Lexy’s heart, a calm only Gabriel could bring. Once in his arms she slowly reciprocated the oddly affectionate motion, something not quite normal for the pair as Lexy often proffered keeping her heart and emotions at distance from Gabe - in case he should hurt her.

“I didn’t tell you because if I was to get caught I didn’t want you in trouble. I... wanted to protect you.” Lexy’s voice was stronger now, though her tone hinted at a realization. All the secrets of her past, and her family, all her disaster preparing for when Gabe would leave her was to protect herself and was selfish. But this secret was not. This was to protect him. “Because I love you, so much...” she stopped and pulled back, suddenly staring at Gabe’s face in awe and wonder. “I want to marry you.” She spoke as if the idea had just struck her. “So I wanted to protect you...”

 

[Gabriel Fletcher]

Why did Lexy think she had to protect him? They were in this together. But Gabriel couldn't blame her for keeping this a secret. It wasn't something you could bring up casually over dinner, was it? She'd probably worried about how he would react. He hugged her a little tighter before she pulled away. "I love you, too," he said, frowning. Lexy had a strange look on her face. Nobody had ever looked at him like that before - like they were looking into him and seeing something good. Something worth loving.

He blinked. "Marry me," he said. "I don't care what you've done. You don't have to protect me. I love you. I love you, Lexy." Taking her damp face in his hands, he kissed her softly on the lips.

 

[Lexy Fletcher]

Lexy's eyes never stopped gazing at Gabriel and she felt her heart skip beats she didn't even realize it could. As if suddenly it was trying to find the same rhythm as his - even though she consciously wasn't sure what the rhythm was.Even a kiss on the lips didn't break Lexy's trance. "Gabriel you don't understand. I want you to marry me." The petite girl shrunk down on one knee, almost as confused as he was going to be. The brunette summoned a fork from their kitchen and with some magic and good old fashioned bending turned it into the best makeshift ring she could manage. "I mean it. Marry me."

 

[Gabriel Fletcher]

Gabriel was going to say that, no, Lexy was the one who didn't understand, he wanted to marry her right now, when his train of thought was derailed by the summoning of a fork. He watched as she turned the fork into a silver ring, not sure whether to judge her for being the world's biggest dork, or be impressed by her creativity. There was no question about it. She was the woman for him. He couldn't imagine spending his life with anybody else - not now. And nothing she'd done in the past could change his mind about her. After all, didn't everybody have a few skeletons in the closet?

"I know what you meant," he said, grinning like an idiot. "Yes. Yes, I'll marry you. Let's do it as soon as we can. I don't want to wait, not any more."